Edgar Wright: The Definitive Guide To Homages, Influences And References
Though An American Werewolf In London served as a major inspiration for Shaun of the Dead, it also receives a tip-of-the-cap in Hot Fuzz in the scene where Angels new colleagues grill him over lunch. When asked by Tony Fisher about why hes wearing his stab vest, Angel says that hes been stabbed and I can assure you it was not in the least bit amusing. This is a line directly lifted from Gerald Bringsley in An American Werewolf In London, who was talking about being savaged by a werewolf. A bonus Wright Easter egg from this scene comes when the Andes say that everybody and their mums is packing round here, before clarifying their gun-owning cross-section of rural sopapeciety to include farmers an farmers mums. This looks like a joke at the time, but the first people Nicholas incapacitates on his way into town are farmer James Reaper and his mum, who are both armed.